Out of Sync
by mwendyr
Summary: Bobby and Alex's partnership falls out of place. The War At Home. Sequel to Tight Bonds and Loose Shackles. Chapter 6 and 7 has finally been posted, sorry it took so longwriters mental block. Please RnR
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **Alex and Bobby realise their partnership has become out of tune. Tag to The War At Home.

**Series: **M/A series, sequel to Tight Bonds and Loose Shackles - it might be helpful if you read that to get what's happened to the characters previously but not 100 necessary.

**Pairing: **Mike/Alex relationship, Bobby/Alex friendship

**Spoilers: **The War At Home, Maltese Cross, Blind Spot, Siren Call (Basically S6)

**Podie1 **- Thank you so much for your reviews. I enjoy them so much. Sorry this has been so long coming, I guess I can't multitask to such a high degree anymore eh ;)

Thank you so much to Scifi Girl for the excellent beta:D

**Out of Sync**

The imaginitive sound of a clock ticking was threatening to drive her up the wall. Every minute she was twisting her neck to look at the clock to the her right, on the wall, to check the time only to find that it was just one minute later from when she had last looked. Driving herself round the bend, she made a mental note not to look again but one minute later she did so without thinking.

"Dammit." Alex Eames cursed angrily, causing her partners head to shoot up in surprise by her outburst. A look of surprise written on his face, unsure of why she had swore. Amusement fluttered across his face when he realised that she was just desperate to go home, like him. Bobby's own fingers tapping against the table, creating a steady rhythm in his mind that was actually helping him to concentrate on his work more than before. Gliding his fingers across the page, he flicks it over and begins the next one. Alex, however, just watches him and then sighs as she looks down at her work and doesn't really want to move on to the next report.

She looks back at the floor. "God dammit." She repeats and then bangs her head against the desk. This stirs a chuckle out of Bobby, who watches with fascination as she becomes increasingly frustrated. She brings her head back up and pulls an annoyed face.

"Eames, it's just one more hour." Bobby said, finding her unusual impatience a little disturbing if not amusing.

Alex rolled her eyes, "It feels like ten." She picked up her pen and looked at him, "Queues at the box office move faster than this."

"Yeah." Bobby agreed to her sarcasm with a small laugh, the day had slowly progressed and was now ceasing to move at all. He knew why she was desperate to get home, "You know, the reason time appears to be moving slowly is because of your intense desire to go home to Logan... there is this saying that-"

"-Ah." She interrupted, "I swear if you say 'A watched kettle never boils' I will walk out."

Bobby chuckled at her comment, "I won't finish." Alex rolled her eyes, knowing that he was basically telling her that that was indeed what he was going to say.

The shrill of the telephone ringing caused her to jump inwardly. She smirked at Bobby, "Saved by the phone." She grabbed the receiver and quickly placed it to her ear. "Eames." Bobby used this moment to get some more work done instead of having to keep his partner entertained. Whilst she spoke on the phone his mind drifted back to thoughts of his mother, who was continually calling him to remind him to visit her on Thanksgiving this weekend and as he checked the clock he realised she was late for her usual phone call.

Alex dropped the receiver back in it's cradle but it didn't snap Bobby out of his thoughts, not that she expected it to but she couldn't help but notice that his fidgeting had increased during the time she was talking on the phone and worry lines had deepened on his face. Worry for her friend caused her to take a chance, "How is your mom doing?"

Bobby glanced up at her, as if confused by her question and unsure of it's meaning but she could see through him just as well as he could see through anyone else. He paled slightly and darted his eyes between her, his work and her desk. "Uh, do you have the ME report from the Di Berto case?" He asked, rubbing his neck and then forcing his arm to rest on his desk instead. Alex felt herself stumble inside for a moment, confused by his lack of response and unsure of whether to allow his subject change. "I need it to make sure I get all - all the details right for my report." He scratched his head and avoided eye contact.

Her eyebrows reached her hairline and beyond, now she knew he wasn't being honest with her; Bobby never needed to check details on cases for reports because by the time they reached this point with a case he knew the whole thing like the back of his hand. "Uh, sure." She mentally shook herself and realised she was allowing him to get away with this but she couldn't really do anything more and honestly, she had no idea what to do anyway. She had to let him deal with this in his own way.

But there was something about the way he brushed her question off altogether. Alex sighed inwardly and watched him as he looked down at his work, and she noticed the way he was trying to make it look like that his work was his main concentration but she could tell that he wasn't really reading the report at all, he was skimming over the words and putting on act for her and that helped to bubble up a sense of frustration and anger in her that she couldn't explain.

"Ok." Alex began, her mind fumbling but putting on a strong appearance. "My parents are doing their thanksgiving dinner that my mum grumbles into cooking, you're invited."

Bobby absentmindedly replied, "I'm busy this weekend, Eames."

Alex mouthed an "Oh." holding the 'O' shape on her lips.

---------------

Walking through the door she felt mortified at the cold air that hit her. It felt colder than it was outside. Alex frowned as she looked around the empty living room; devoid of all life except for PJ, her replacement Lovebird, who chirped at her the moment he saw her. Alex didn't speak back however, her concern for Mike taking over for a moment as she walked through the living room and headed for the place she had last seen him; the bedroom.

"Mike!" She called out, concerned because he'd only been released from hospital two days ago after an agonising two weeks of arguing, demands and pressures from him to leave. He'd tried to 'escape' many times; she'd even caught him trying to head out of the hospital building wearing nothing but an overcoat. It had been difficult to get the man to stay there whilst his body healed. "Mike?"

She stopped walking for a moment when she heard someone grunting. Her face screwed up in confusion as she quickly began moving and rushed towards the bedroom. She poked her head round the door and saw him lying on the floor, next to the bed, in a ball; communicating to her he was in pain by using body language. She quickly crossed the room and knelt down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder in concern, "Mike, what are you doing?" She asked softly, her voice showing her concern and love for him all in one go. He grunted from obvious pain and as she felt his head, she could feel his cold skin and her insides drop as her concern turned into a bolt of fear.

"I'm alright." He muttered, trying to catch his breath, unable to do so because he was restricting his lung capacity by maintaining the human ball.

"C'mon, get up." She held onto his arm, the one that hadn't been broken, and helped him up. Mike resisted, unsure of how much pain this would cause him, but he was curled up next to the bed and he realised it wasn't that far to go. She held onto the edge of the bed for support as she carried the brunt of Mike's weight, which was a feat for her considering how small she was and how big he was. Mike tried to hold the sound of pain in but he had no choice but to let it out in a yelp as he landed on the bed. "Sorry." Alex apologised.

Mike rolled onto his back and looked up at her, "It wasn't your fault."

"What were you doing?" Alex asked, confused and concerned.

Mike groaned and rubbed his eyes, "I was, uh, trying to cool down so I opened all the windows." Alex frowned, he wasn't making any sense, "Okay, so then I realised it was mistake and tried to close them all when I-"

"-You hurt your ribs didn't you?" She interrupted, asking him with an accusatory tone of voice. Mike just laid still and looked up at her, as she shot him a look.

"Well, you try lying on your ass for two weeks and see how bored you get!" He responded, going on the defensive.

Alex snorted, "I've been there and done that remember." Mike immediately looked guilty. "It's okay." Alex dismissed it immediately, refusing to go back to her kidnapping ordeal. She sat down beside him and without waiting for permission she undid several of the buttons on his shirt.

"Desperate eh?" He asked, suggestively, waggling his eyebrows and making a point to look flirty with her.

She chuckled, "Yeah, desperate to get a look at your ribs."

Mike grinned, "Baby, all you had to do was ask." Alex laughed at him as she began examining his ribs. Carefully running her fingers over it and feeling to see if anything had moved, become worse or swollen since she'd last done that for him.

After she'd done and was satisfied that he hadn't done anything to damage himself that she could see, she fastened his shirt back up. "I don't really have to ask, do I?" She asked, keeping her tone low as she looked down at him, resting on her hands and hovering above him with a sly smile on her face.

Mike grinned, "Well no."

"Good." She lowered her head to give him a chaste, sweet kiss that he hungrily accepted. When she pulled back he looked disappointed but didn't say anything. She looked up at the window and sighed, standing up to close it to at least keep one room in the house warm.

"Sorry." Mike muttered. She shrugged, not really needing an apology; closing the window with a bang. She turned to look at him with a quizzical look on her face, and he could tell something was wrong. He could feel it radiating from her like a tangible cloud. "What's wrong?"

Alex felt herself leaning towards the idea of lying, maintaining the illusion that she was fine; the same illusion she'd been magically showing her partner by continuing to be sarcastic and her usual charming self, if not for her benefit then for his. But, as she hesitated with answering, Mike's suspicion that something was wrong increased. Alex was stood at the foot of the bed so Mike had to twist his neck a little to see her face but he could see something, and being the good detective that he was he started to deduce what that might be. "Is it a case?"

"No." She replied, finally answering him. She walked back round the bed to sit back next to him.

Alex smiled, trying to look encouraging and happy, "I'm worried about Bobby."

"Ah." Mike suddenly felt it all click into place, "His mother?" Alex jerked her head to look at him, eyebrow firmly raised. "Oh, I heard you ask him about her."

"Oh." was the only answer Alex could reply to that.

"And I also heard him _not _answer."

Alex just repeated her, "Oh."

Mike looked up at her, and moved his good arm to pull hers so that she would look at him. "What?" he whispered, trying to coax her into talking.

She took a deep breath, "I don't know, it's probably nothing but I get this... feeling that he doesn't trust me enough to talk about it." Alex hesitated and frowned at her own use of words; shaking her head she avoided eye contact with Mike for as long as possible before being defeated and having to look at him. "It's nothing, I'm just being..." she let her sentence trail off when she realised that she didn't know what she was doing.

Mike frowned and tried to offer her sympathetic smile that came out as a grimace. "Look, he's a guy, he probably just wants to drink it all away."

"That's not Bobby." Alex quickly argued back. "He doesn't do that, he dwells on things and over-analyses them until they become a bigger issue than they were in the first place!"

Mike snorted, "Either way, as a guy he probably doesn't want to talk about it."

Alex nodded slightly in agreement, "Maybe." Mike tried to sit up, deciding enough was enough but Alex stopped him by placing her hands on his shoulders. "What are you doing?! Rest your ribs before you make them any worse and end up back in hospital and I _know _you don't want that." Knowing she didn't want to hurt him, he continued to sit up.

"Ok, I'm not an invalid." He managed to sit up relatively straight, "But I am a detective and I can tell something else is bothering you so spit it out."

"Thanksgiving." She replied, looking into his eyes and showing him her sadness.

"And that's bad?" Mike asked, incredulously. "Your Dad has been going on about how great that day is!" Alex looked surprised by that. "Oh, when I was in hospital he kept talking about it like it was as amazing as Christmas."

That earned a smile from her. "Yeah, he loves Thanksgiving, he gets the kids all dressed up." Mike started to chuckle a little at the thought. "Problem is I feel kind of guilty."

Mike's frown deepened as he looked at her in confusion. "It might be the meds but you're not making sense." Alex rubbed her face in frustration and felt this desperate need to have him hold her but she didn't want to just grab him and end up hurting his ribs.

"I know, I'm sorry." Alex apologised, feeling incredibly stupid but not quite understanding where all this was coming from. The past couple of weeks had been so hard on her, and as a matter of fact the past couple of months had been draining and all she could think of why she was just deciding to get upset about it. But she couldn't change how she felt and she couldn't seem to stop this feeling of disillusion and despair; frustrated with everything like she just wanted to scream. "It's just Bobby is going to have to spend this weekend at the hospital, and you are obviously in too much pain to come with me and I... well, I just feel... fed-up!" She threw her hands up in the air to show her frustration and Mike looked at her for a moment before considering a response.

"I may be in a lot of pain but I'm still going." He told her, his masculine voice treading softly so that he didn't add to her frustration. "As for you feeling fed-up well I do have a solution to that but-" he looked down at his bruised ribs, "-as you can see I'm not quite able yet but I am willing!" Alex smiled a little at the fun suggestion but still looked gloomy. He snaked his working arm around her waist and silently gave her permission to snuggle into him. "Goren probably wants to spend time at the hospital this weekend, I wouldn't feel guilty about that."

"I know, I'm being stupid." She loudly berated herself after a sharp intake of breath. Mike momentarily wondered if she was having a female monthly problem and if this little mood swing period of hers was connected to that but, when he considered it, he realised that asking might actually confirm it and confirming it would mean he'd get an earful. Instead he kissed her temple and rubbed her side with his hand, hoping to generate some comfort. He could not wait to be out of these bandages. "You're still going?" She asked, twisting a little to look up at him as her head rested in the crook of his neck.

"Yep." Mike replied, attempting to put on his best enthusiastic voice; as much as he could muster in his current state of health. "I'll be there, resting on your Dad's big recliner." He added with a chuckle.

Alex snorted with laughter, "Yeah, I can't see that going down well with him."

Mike grinned,

"We'll tag team him; you distract him and I'll yoink the chair."

---------------------

Thanksgiving Thursday was a day that so far had been peaceful and quiet; Alex stuck in her thoughts for a while whilst Mike slept and rested, needing the energy for when they went to her parents house because if he remembered correctly there was always something happening and her family was so full of energy.

As she rummaged through her wardrobe to find that dress that Mike had been looking at a few weeks ago, she found herself immersed in her own thoughts and feelings. Her worry for Bobby had increased tenfold recently; he'd become more introverted than usual, and that was saying something. She knew that he was losing his mother slowly to cancer and she could possibly even relate, her own mother's stroke a few years ago had been frightening; her whole family crowding the waiting rooms at the hospital as they waited on news whether it be good or bad. But Bobby was treating her differently as well, pushing her away and whether he knew it or not that was hurting more than she cared to admit. Bobby was her best friend and her partner, and she trusted him explicitly; she'd always thought he'd felt the same but now she was not so sure.

She was sure she was looking forward to a weekend away from her job, and away from any of this worry.

Finding the dress hanging at the very end of the wardrobe, concealed by other clothes, she pulled it off the rail and slipped it over her head, covering her body in the soft material and suddenly realising her skin had been cold the whole time she'd been thinking.

As she stood in front of the mirror, looking to see if she looked okay, she heard a content sigh behind her and the sound of a man clearing his throat. Alex turned and saw Mike standing next to the dresser, leaning on it for support, with a happy and satisfied look on his face. He had a pleased smirk on his face, his mouth curved as his eyes surveyed her body up and down. Alex just looked at him, with feigned annoyance; she actually like the way he was pleased with her outfit, not that she'd tell him that. "What?" Mike asked, with a laugh, "Can't I admire the way you look in a dress?" A smirk started to appear on her face and she tried to stifle it. "You should wear one more often, that way I'd get used to it."

"I think that's incentive for me _not _to wear one." Alex replied, giving him a small amused smile. Her eyesight focused on Mike's ribs and plastered arm, and she asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Good." He moved his plastered arm around to show that he had some muscular ability. "See?" He grinned.

The smile on Alex's face grew. "I can see that." He crossed the space between them with three long strides and carefully engulfed her in his arms, doing so without causing any pain to himself. He lowered his plastered arm down her back and slowly, carefully, caressed the base of her spine before cheekily lowering his hand. "Hey." She giggled, "You've definitely got that arm working again."

A large grin formed on Mike's face, "Oh, yeah."

-----------------------

A madhouse and a zoo would be the words to describe the Eames house on thanksgiving. Children littered about like small animals causing their parents to go crazy to the point where Alex had finally agreed to see them in action outside in the outfits her father had dressed his grandchildren, and great grandchildren, in. The November air was cool but the sun provided a little warmth, yet not enough for her to abandon her coat altogether. Long knee-high boots kept her legs warm and she was thankful for them.

Mike's strength and energy had depleted and he had decided against going outside with Alex, her sister and the children. Opting to stay inside where it was warm and he could close his eyes, although he claimed he wouldn't sleep. Jo stayed at the table whilst Alex sat on the bench with the kids running around her in full costume.

She cursed herself for bringing her phone with her when she heard it ringing in her coat pocket. With a sigh she answered it, "Eames." Several of the kids climbed about her, two of them trying to sit on her knee. "The Deputy Commissioners Daughter?" She sighed, mostly inwardly but it was still audible, she could hear the way Ross didn't sound happy about this either. Alex figured he had wanted to spend Thanksgiving with his sons. "Okay, I got it."

Her nephew, Nathan, repeated her "I got it!" As he, and his cousins, ran around her. Alex sighed and looked at them before looking towards the house. So much for having the weekend free, and she could already hear her partners' anguish because she had known what Bobby when he said he was busy, it meant he'd spending all of his time with his mother.

With a heavy sigh, she stood up and walked towards the house.

She dragged her feet into the house and immediately walked into the living room where she had left Mike sleeping. Her father took one look at her face and the cell phone in her hand and he knew what was happening. "Now?"

She nodded, sadly, "Yes, now."

Johnny Eames looked at her glumly, one more year where his youngest daughter wasn't going to be involved in the family holiday. He should know better because he was a cop but it brought him sadness. He noticed the way she was looking around the room, "He's upstairs in the guest room, getting some _real _shut eye."

Alex smiled at him and headed for the stairs leaving a trail of disappointed faces in her wake.

------------------------

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Podie1 **- Again, you make my head grow, and my smile deepen. Thank you oh so much for your kind words. They mean alot to me. I hope this is worth the wait. I thought you'd like to know that there are other M/A stories on my LJ (which you can find through my profile) that I haven't posted here, and since I know you're a fan of the pairing - I thought you'd wanna look at the story.

**Out of Sync**

Alex Eames sauntered up the stairs and quickly found the guest room; knowing she could do so with her eyes closed. She walked in and looked directly at the bed where Mike's still form slept soundly and she smiled sadly at him, even though he couldn't see her. She knew he would've been too tired to stay and now she was questioning herself on whether she should leave him here or not.

But she knew she didn't have time to drive him home so she had no choice but to go with the first option, which was to leave him here. She walked around the king size bed and sat down beside his body. Mike stirred slightly at his eyes opened to her surprise; she didn't even have to attempt to wake him. "Hey." She greeted softly.

"Sorry." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes with his good arm, forcing himself to wake up properly.

"It's ok." Alex quickly said, hoping he wouldn't feel the need to apologise because she did understand. "I just came to tell you that I've got to go."

Mike's eyes flew open fully and he looked at her with confusion. "Go?" She nodded and Mike understood, "No one else?"

"Well, you're off sick and everyone has their hands full apparently... and they need Goren." Mike picked up on the unhappiness in her tone of voice and it registered concern for him, and he also noticed how she didn't mention that they needed her, but she stood up. "You should stay here. No driving for you. I'll be back." He used his useful arm and pulled her back down.

"Hey." She quickly kissed him, which brought a smile to his face. "That's better." Mike couldn't argue with her about this, as much as he wanted to, all he could do was understand because if the situations were reversed he knew that he'd have no choice either.

"I'll come back later to pick you up. Don't be afraid to yell for someone."

"You want your family to wait on me, hand and foot?" Mike asked, incredulously. Not sure he liked the sound of where this was going.

Alex grinned, "Yes, they'd do it in a heartbeat anyway." Mike didn't respond to that, he just nodded. Alex stood back up and walked towards the door, turning back she saw Mike was still looking at her, she smiled and subtlety air kissed him, and left the room altogether, gently closing the door behind her.

-------------------

Bobby was sat on the edge of his mother's bed. Listening to her as she explained something that she felt was most vital, and of the utmost importance. He didn't quite believe her, and he disagreed but he didn't vocalise his opinion. "Bobby?" She asked, wanting his attention even though she had already had it in bucket loads. "If you see me get disorientated or weak on one side-" Bobby's cell phone began to ring, "-please call 911 and have them take me to a _real _hospital in the city."

"Yes." Bobby replied, whilst trying to get to his cell out of his pocket.

"Okay?" She asked, seeking confirmation as she felt her stress level rising.

Bobby looked at her, still dragging his phone from his pocket, "Yes, yes." He pulled the phone out of his pocket; his mother still looking for confirmation, "Yes." He told her one last time before pulling his cell open and answering it. "Yes, Captain?"

Frances Goren lifted her hands up and began to rub her temples, "God I hate this place, I hate this place." Almost chanting as she attempted to curse the hospital. Bobby looked at her, and decided to move slightly away from the bed, not out of concern for privacy but out of frustration at the words spoken in his ear.

"I'm with family." He explained to Ross, intently listening to his Captain's response. "Captain, is there anyone else? Please?" Bobby is desperate but he was shot down by Ross' own desperation to have Bobby on the case; he feels he has no choice but to go, "Yeah, yeah."

Frances looked at her son, and can feel anger rise in her body. Bobby snapped his phone shut and looked at his mother. "Yeah, I know." Frances waved her arm towards the door, "Bye-bye." Bobby is stung by her cold goodbye, but he has no choice but to walk away and let it be. He tried to establish eye contact with, but it didn't work.

---------------

Everything was being rushed; this case was being treated as top priority.

"You're twenty minutes from Carmel Ridge." Alex told him, hearing the desperation in his voice as he spoke to Doctor Sylvest on his cell; the perimeter search being set-up as they walked through the parking lot. Bobby glanced at her, most of his attention on Sylvest's words. "I'll cover for you." She told him, with certainty. She watched him walk away as he continued to have a conversation on the phone, thanking the doctor for something she was unaware of.

As she watched him leave, two words rang through her head, _You're Welcome_. That sarcastic little inner voice of hers making her wince at the tone. Alex had to admit to herself that she wasn't quite sure what she was going to tell Ross. She looked towards the woods and felt herself sigh heavily, this day was getting worse and it was no-where near the end.

---------------

After re-interviewing Trish by herself, Alex found herself becoming increasingly annoyed. Annoyed at Trisha for concealing key information, annoyed at the way this case seemed to be leading them to a dead body, annoyed at Bobby for having reasons to leave, and annoyed because she'd had to leave her plans behind along with Mike. She had called Bobby to relay to him the results so far, to explain about what Trish had told her, and about the club called The Verve. But it seemed he wasn't completely paying attention to her and she felt twinges of guilt at taking his attention from his mother.

Trudging through the woods had not been her ideal thanksgiving, but she dragged herself through mud and dead leaves anyway. And she felt a small pang of annoyance that Bobby wasn't doing this search with her, despite the fact that she had told him to go. This made no sense to her, but as she found the black panties in the dirt, all those thoughts disappeared. "Captain." She called out to Ross to get his attention, but she carried on further to pick up a black bra and then a dress. "This is it, this is the last of her outfit."

"So where's the body?" Ross asked, as Alex folded the dress placing it into the bag. Alex felt herself shrug, there was no sign of the body. "Get your partner back here, he's needed."

Alex nodded but she could already feel the conflict within her; calling him back would mean dragging him up from his mother again, he didn't deserve that.

----------------

The rest of the day Alex and Bobby had continued to work separately as dusk came. It seemed easier that way; Bobby had interviewed Ashton by himself whilst Alex helped the teams try to locate Amanda's body with no luck. The headache that had been brewing all day finally crashed into Alex like a storm as she pulled into her parents' driveway and switched the engine off.

She rested her head in her hands for a moment, and caressed her forehead as if her hands could soothe the pain but it couldn't. A high tension case was not what she needed right now. What she needed was a time to breathe but it didn't look like it was happening right now. She lifted her head up and decided that sitting in the car wasn't going to get her to bed anytime soon, so she stepped out of the car and pushed the door shut behind her.

She didn't knock, she didn't need to; she walked straight into the living room and smiled at her father who was resting his eyes with a paper on his stomach. She couldn't help but think how old he had become. The house was surprisingly empty and quiet; unusual for this home which was normally crowded and loud. She looked around the room and winced at the pain in her head that that movement caused. She heard the sound of her father waking up and she realised she must have made a noise that disturbed him. Alex turned back to him and offered him a sympathetic smile as his eyes opened. "He's upstairs, honey." He told her, his voice croaking from not being used in a while. "He finished off your mothers pumpkin pie and is sleeping it off. That, or his meds, I can't be sure."

Alex smiled. "You mean, he didn't save me any?" Her voice full of mock disappointment.

John grinned, sleepily, "I'm sure your mother will make you a pie, Alex." This caused her to laugh at the stupidity but her hand quickly flew to her head as she winced at the pain. "Tension headache?"

"Something like that." Alex replied, dryly. The stairs creaking caused them both to look to the door in time to see Mike walk into the room. "Hey."

Mike silently greeted her with a small kiss. "I figured that car was you."

Alex smirked slightly and then looked at John. "So, mom is gonna make another pie?" She hinted the answer. John nodded in response with a snort of laughter.

"Sorry." Mike mumbled, realising what pie they were referring to. Alex looked at him in an attempt to smile but she was again forced to wince from the pulsing pain in her head. "Are you alright?"

John slowly pulled himself off his chair with a groan, "I'll get you some Advil for that."

"It's just a headache." Alex argued quietly, not really wanting the attention or the concern. Her father fetched the painkillers anyway, silencing her argument.

------------------

Alone and quiet.

It was eerily quiet as Bobby sat twiddling his thumbs with his elbows on his knees. Watching his mother breathe as if relaxed and calm but he knew the truth. Inside her mind raged; full of confusion and doubt. Whether she had made her peace with her God or not remained to be seen but Bobby knew that he hadn't, and he wasn't sure if he could. For most of his life his mother has been slowly slipping away from him, and he had always followed so that she remained in sight and that he didn't lose her but now it seemed she'd leave him forever and he didn't know if he could handle that. He'd looked after her all his life, what would he do without her?

How dare they take his mother away from him? His only family. Time with her seemed limited now; days were numbered and every day he spent at work was another day away from her and one more X on the calendar. He wished he could make time freeze but being a smart man he knew that those thoughts were foolish and would only serve to send him crazy. But he couldn't help that desire to keep his mother with him for longer. He dreaded the day doctors told him she was gone, he dreaded the day when he had to attend her funeral but it looked like that day was looming closer and closer.

The end was almost here, and he didn't want the credits to roll.

-----------------

"I'm taking a shower."

Alex announced quietly as she walked into the house and headed straight for the bathroom. Mike watched her close the bathroom door behind her and he sighed; he had no idea what was wrong or what was going on but he knew he didn't like it. He felt like he was being left out in the dark and his only idea was that it had something to do with the case and could be related to Bobby Goren. Whatever it was, it was making her easily agitated and she was becoming increasingly frustrated with everything around her causing concern to start to simmer, not so gently, inside him.

Mike sighed, unsure what to do. His pain in his ribs starting to scream at him, telling him to sit down but his mind was telling him to follow her and make her talk, not that she would. The battle waged inside his mind and body for minutes before he finally admitted defeat, walking towards the bathroom door. Hesitating before he put his fingers around the door handle; momentarily wondering if she'd locked it and if he should be knocking first. He'd ignored the new battle and pushed the door open. Slightly surprised as well as relieved when it opened. If it were possible he would've choked on the steam that clouded bathroom, blocking his view but he could make her out in the bathtub, already standing there with the curtain drawn.

"Alex?" He said her name tentatively.

Alex didn't move, she just stared at the wall opposite her as she let the water glide over her body. "Yes?"

Mike closed the bathroom door and took the two steps to stand beside the shower curtain, not sure if it was wise to peel it back and actually look into her eyes. The combination of his action and her sour mood could put him in trouble. "You okay?" It was all he could think of, it was the only words that managed to find their way to his lips.

Alex seemed to hesitate before answering and that threw him off a little; expecting certainty and not finding any. "I'm fine." Mike stood there, his eyes boring into the curtain as if he could see right through it; he wanted to see right through it. He heard the curtain ruffle and was surprised when Alex's head came round the side, her body still concealed. "I'm fine." She reiterated, with more certainty. "I just... the case is..." Her sentence trailed off the deep end. Although he nodded to say he understood, he wasn't sure that he did. "I'm sorry." She said, forcing him to look back up at her, even though he hadn't realised he'd looked away. "I'm just-" she paused, "-not in a good mood."

"Want me to make it better?" He suggested, trying to lighten the mood as he didn't enjoy the heavy feeling this evening was bringing.

The attempt earned a small smile from her, "I'll be fine."

"You sure?" He asked, hopeful, "I mean you're passing up the opportunity of a lifetime."

She laughed, looking away from him for a moment to look at the running shower instead. When she turned back to him she smiled, "After my shower?"

"Deal." Mike agreed.

-----------------

TBC

Okay, so what do you think? I personally think it's choppy but there is a point to all of this.


	3. Chapter 3

I appologise for how late this is on the update.

Podie1 - LOL at the way you deleted your own review. :D

**Out of Sync**

The next day had involved them chasing up Amanda's final hours as they tried to find out what had happened to her and where she was. All of this was slowly becoming a sideline for Bobby, who was struggling with his inner thoughts and his mother. Alex could see that this case wasn't a priority for him and she could understand that but she couldn't seem to forget Ross' warning to her when he first came to Major Case. That was when the partnership between herself and Bobby had been strong, but now she wasn't even sure he remembered his warning or that she had to keep an eye on him, or that they were even partners. It made her sad to think how things had started to change between them. She'd spent the better part of the day working alone; Alex had visited the Verve to speak the barmaid about Amanda, and then she'd spoken to Elaine Dockerty by herself when Bobby had an important phone call.

Alex, who was currently laying in her bed and trying not to wake Mike, grimaced as she remembered what Leland Dockerty had said to Captain Ross when Bobby had quickly fled the room to answer the call. The insinuation was cruel and although she knew why Dockerty would see it that way, and why he would question Bobby's competence, Alex knew different, she knew the truth and that bothered her. Upon hearing a whimper of pain she was forced out of her inner thoughts, turning to Mike she saw his face twist and turn and she knew he was in pain. Looking at him, she could see why - he was laying on his broken arm. Moving to poke him, she had to smile when Mike seemed to sense her finger near him as his eyes fluttered open and he quickly moved off his arm. When he was finally settled, he looked at her with small look of confusion on his face, "How come you're not asleep?" His voice croaking from the sleep.

She shrugged, looking at him and trying to cover herself with the blankets as she suddenly felt the night chill, "I can't sleep."

He laughed when she yawned.

"I can't!" She reiterated at the sound of his laughter. Instinctively snuggling into his warm body, knowing he was already awake and nothing she could do now would wake him up further.

He twisted a little to get comfortable, asking in a low voice, "You want me to make you tired?" She shook her head, resisting the temptation. She didn't feel like having that kind of fun right now when her thoughts were on Bobby; it was as much as a turn off as it was strange. "Well, again, your loss." She let out a soft laugh and reached up to kiss him.

"Tomorrow." She promised, hoping that tomorrow would mean all of the mess in her mind would be cleared up.

--------------------

How could she pretend to be asleep? She's ill, and she's pretending to be asleep. Bobby felt this was too important, and he was trying to be patient, the same way he always had been with Frances Goren but her terminal illness was starting to grind on his patience turning it into nothing but frustration and bottled up fear of him losing his only connection to humanity; his family. She was all that was left to him.

True, Alex was the next best thing he had to family, she understood him like no one else. Their partnership was about a strong commitment to each other and she was not blinded by anything, she saw him as he truly was - Bobby Goren, a human being and she had not really asked for anything else in return. But it seemed that ever since her kidnapping they had lost some of that connection as partners and friends, and he wasn't sure if he could put all of this on her. She had been through so much, having nearly lost Mike during his own hostage situation with his partner, and it didn't seem fair to put any more stress on her shoulders; he already felt guilty that she seemed to be spending a lot more time than him on this case, as a matter of fact, he could barely remember what he had done so far on it.

Bobby's fingers gripped his hair as he sat on the edge of his bed, too worried to sleep and too tired to stay awake. He hated the nights, this was when he was truly alone and this was when he realised that. He wanted to be by her side 24/7 but that was impossible.

--------------------

His lack of sleep had been the reason he'd strolled into the office later than his partner had expected, or his Captain but when he'd expected anger from his boss, all he got was understanding; it baffled him.

"What about her bank accounts?" He asked Alex as he had heard what she had been talking about with Ross; passports.

Alex, however, took in his appearance and watched him carefully as he sat down at his desk. "How is she?" She had to ask the one question that had been on her mind for most of the night, the case could wait right now, this was important.

Bobby looked at her, taking his seat and looking up at Ross, who chose that moment to speak instead of allowing Bobby to answer. "I'll have you out of here as soon as I can." Ross' words were met with a slow nod and a diversion question.

"Has Amanda made any ATM withdrawals?" Alex's inner argument at letting him change the subject didn't last as long as she had thought it did, but she felt she had no choice but to let him side-step the issue again. That caused the hurt to come rushing back in; she knew it was illogical and irrational to feel hurt but she was nonetheless.

When Ross left them to get to work, the two Detectives looked at each other. One worried and hurt, the other blank and passive as he purposely hid his feelings behind a Goren mask; one that she had no way of looking past if he wouldn't let her. They, however, continued to work together as they interviewed Amanda's fiancé but she refused to broach the subject again, knowing he didn't want to say anything about it. But it worried her to see him so distant and out of sync with the world. Despite the fact that most people believed he was like that anyway she'd always seen him as someone who was very in touch with the world, aware of his surroundings and that was partly what made him such a great detective.

-------------------

She hadn't expected to have ended up having a conversation about her deceased ex-husband with her boss but somehow she ended up revealing personal information to him without even trying. Alex couldn't remember when she'd began to see Ross as more than just her boss but as a colleague and a friend too but she didn't usually talk about personal things with just anyone. The words had escaped her before she realised quite was she was saying, she was instinctively answering his question with a fact - Joe _had _brought her a taser gun for their wedding anniversary and it did annoy her that he had done so, which is partly the reason she loves Mike; a man who doesn't spend most of his time talking to her about their jobs unless its relevant and they usually have no need to discuss what happened at work because they work in the same department. Alex enjoys Mike's need for fun, enhancing her own.

"I take it this Joe is an ex?" Ross asked her as they each took sips of their coffee. This was when Alex realised what she had said. Ross knew that Joe had to be an ex, not just because of Mike but because of the way Alex had mentioned him but he didn't want to assume. Momentarily, his own thoughts resting on his own ex-wife.

Alex looked at him, trying to keep her face neutral and avoiding the obvious answer of 'No, I live with someone else don't I?' "He died, 8 years ago."

"I'm sorry." Ross replied, sadly. Regretting his choice to ask her but she nodded, understanding and he allowed himself to relax, knowing he hadn't crossed any line.

That was also when Bobby came to them with some information he'd discovered about Wesley Burkhart and Alex was thankful that he was doing some work, she hoped it would take his mind of his mother and help with their case; the sooner they solved it, the sooner he could go see her.

-------------------

When Bobby found Amanda's body inside the oil drum, Alex had not been surprised. She'd had this gut feeling that Amanda was dead ever since the case started, however she had been surprised by her own reaction to the body they'd discovered. The nausea crawling into her mouth and throat, and the lump that formed so quickly as Bobby leaned into the drum to look at the wounds on the body. Alex found herself unable to look at her, unable to keep her eyes in one place, all she could do was look away and try to breathe.

One thought cut through her before she buried it _"That could have been you several months ago." _She quickly switched her inner thoughts off as Bobby gently let go of the body and told her what he thought. Whether it was to try to ease the queasiness in her mouth or to show him she was alright she wasn't sure but she simply said, "The fog of war followed her home." She tried to keep it professional, knowing that one of them had to be able to keep themselves together during this case and it didn't look like it would be Bobby.

She remained professional when they spoke to Rodgers about the cause of death. She remained professional when CSU lifted the body from the oil drum. She remained professional when Elaine and Leland Dockerty broke down at the sight of their dead daughter.

She even remained professional when Bobby ignored her completely when he received a text message that she assumed was from his brother. "Your brother?" She asked.

He didn't look at her directly and he didn't respond to her question. He didn't even hesitate when he changed the subject. He didn't want to talk to her about it and she had no choice. Bobby just stuffed his cell back in his pocket and said, "There would've been signs of sexual assualt. It was cold, it was impersonal..."

He said those two words but she suddenly felt like they had a different meaning. But she didn't say anything about it, she continued with the investigation. She spent the better part of the evening searching body shops knowing Wesley's uncle was a metal worker. It was cold and she felt bitter.

Her promise to Mike had been broken because by the time she got home she didn't feel like doing anything but having a shower and sleeping.

------------------

"What the hell was that, Bobby?"

Alex had followed Bobby shortly after he'd had a small tantrum in the bullpen and wiped his desk clean of his stuff. She could understand his frustration and she was even finding Dockerty difficult but he was grieving too. She knew he had a call from his mother again today, she'd heard the child-like way he'd said the word 'mom' down the phone. But it was Alex who was having to face the problems with Bobby's behaviour, Ross was no doubt going to speak to her about his lack of professional behaviour.

Bobby didn't answer and that annoyed her. "You wanna throw it all away?" Bobby ignored her and started for the elevator and she realised she was being too harsh, "Just, I know-"

"-Back off!" He interrupted, harshly. Alex had no choice but to do so, watching him as he got into the elevator. Her stomach dropping as it was emotionally kicked. As the doors closed, she knew one thing, she was pissed and she had had enough; she watched as he shook his head in the negative and she felt the fury burn within her.

She, however, had no choice but to continue to remain professional. Deputy Commisioner Dockerty was still in the squad room and was expecting his daughters' killer to be caught and dealt with. Unsure of where Bobby had gone, and unsure of where their partnership lay she had no choice but to carry on with the investigation and interrogate Wesley by herself.

------------------

Worrying about what Dockerty was doing to Wesley in the holding cell wasn't the only thing rushing through her mind as she paced the interview room. It was then that Bobby returned... without any apology. He only responded to Ross' question with several enthusiastic nods. Alex suppressed the hurt that his lack of response to her caused. If she'd lost his friendship then she could deal with that.

They walked out of the interview room with the intention of interrogating Wesley together. Bobby walked behind her as they made a beeline for their desks. "It's hard to get a confession if he's not capable of guilt. Maybe we should tell him he's got nothing to feel guilty about?" Bobby tried to subtly word that as his own apology by offering to work with her on the case, he knew he hadn't been helpful during the past 4 days but she didn't see it; she was blinded by her own anger and hurt.

Not even turning to look at him, she said, "You do that!" Her words were cold, harsh and she continued to walk away from him and he fell into his seat.

Lost.

Without his partner's understanding, he was lost. And he was angry at her for that.

Lost and out of sync.

--------------------


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I do far too much work lately to be able to keep up with all the things I want to do; ie, my writing. But here's the next chapter, slightly shorter but there is a reason. ::grins::

I hope it's worth the wait. I'm gonna try my hardest to write the next one within the next couple of days. Thank you to ScifiGirl for the excellent beta.

**Out of Sync**

The room was filled with the kind of tense atmosphere that a sharp knife would struggle to cut. Scanning the living room unnecessarily, Mike finally rested his eyes on Alex's form as she stood by the window; her arms folded tightly across her chest, leaning on one leg and a look of thunder on her face that Mike could not see but he knew it was there.

Mike had been in the shower when Alex had returned home from work, and he was now standing half-dressed with wet hair and a towel around his shoulders as he looked at her with confusion and worry. "What happened?" He asked, knowing that this had to be something to do with work, whether it was a case or not was beyond him. He hated the fact that his injury meant he was out of the loop.

Alex didn't turn back to him, she didn't move as she replied sharply, "I quit."

Frowning, not only at the unusual statement but at her lack of response to his question. "What? Why?" She just shook her head in a stiff manner. "Why would you quit your job?"

"Not my job!" She replied, angrily. "I quit as his partner!"

The frown on Mike's face deepened and his brow knitted together in confusion, "You're quitting as Goren's partner?" He asked, incredulously. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He'd never imagined anything splitting that partnership up.

"No." She replied sarcastically cool, trying to keep her anger down. "I'm quitting as Kermit's partner... of course I mean Goren's!" She turned to him, losing the battle with her anger as it took her over.

Taken back by her outburst Mike paused for a moment, having to seriously think about what was happening before he started shouting back at her. "Why?" He watched as she trembled with unexpressed anger. "Do you need the punching bag?" She shot him a look that told him he'd said the wrong thing. "C'mon help me out here. What the hell happened?"

Alex rubbed her head in frustration and chose that moment to sit on the edge of the sofa, "I'm not really sure." He sat down beside her, further confused by her response. "I'm not putting up with it anymore. I can't always be expected to be the strong one who can put up with his crap 24/7, without getting _anything _from him!" Alex's voice raised in volume as she stood up and began pacing the room. "I don't expect him to tell me everything but the least he could do is speak to me instead of just ignoring me! I'm meant to be his partner, not some damn sidekick he can just push around and pick up whenever he pleases!"

Mike doubted she seriously believed most of what she was saying to be true, but none of it was helping to clear up his confusion. "Alex-"

She ignored him again and continued to rage on. "I mean, I'm the one who had to explain why my partner had the childish tantrum in the middle of the squad room to the Deputy Commissioner!"

"Childish tantrum?-"

"-And he didn't even apologise! He said nothing! Just acted like everything was honky dory and that none of it happened!"

"None of what happened?!" Mike asked, standing up in the hopes that he'd be heard. He grabbed her by her arms and forced her to look at him; despite the fact that one arm was still in plaster. "Alex, what happened?"

After a moments silence, where tears threatened fall from her eyes as she looked at him, thinking back over the days events, her entire demeanour changed, "It's all my fault."

Stunned and confused, Mike asked "What?" he couldn't believe the quick 180 he was hearing.

"I should have been more understanding but it's just so hard to do that when whenever I ask him a question he just ignores it like I didn't even speak!" She growled in frustration that seemed, to Mike, to have come from nowhere. "He can't expect me to be okay with everything all the time!"

Mike tried to lead her back towards the sofa, in the hopes that sitting down would tempt her to explain everything so that the ball of confusion in his mind would at least start to unravel and make some sense. "I couldn't even look at her..." Her sentence trailed off into oblivion as they sat down.

"Who?"

"Amanda." Alex's anger had dissipated and she was now left with that distraught feeling that she'd been too angry and said too much.

Mike had to think for a moment who this Amanda was, "You mean the vic you found yesterday?"

Alex nodded, numbly. "I couldn't even look at her, I felt-" she swallowed air, "-I felt like, I just felt weak! Maybe I should quit completely-" She almost jumped back off the seat to start pacing again but Mike stopped her.

"Stop that!" Mike almost growled in his own frustration. His towel forgotten as it fell from his shoulders. "C'mon Alex, what the hell is going on? You're tougher than this."

She sighed deeply in what he could only think of as defeat. "Maybe..."

"Don't give me _maybe_. You are. And you're gonna stop this-" he pointed his finger around the room and then at her, "-because you know you're not gonna quit. That's just crazy talk." Alex looked at him solemnly, her mind was clearly already made up. Shaking her head to tell him that she disagreed. "C'mon..." Mike was stunned as he watched her face slowly fall towards his chest, he could see the tears falling before he really heard her sob; a sob that came to his surprise and all he could manage was to tightly wrap his good arm around her and hope that he could comfort her.

-------------------------

Everything hurt.

He felt numb, like a thousand pins and needles had beaten his nerves into oblivion; a place where feeling no longer existed. The stiff ache that he felt emotionally was tied to the two people in his life whom he considered to be family; his mother and his partner. One he was losing to mortality and the other he was losing to anger; his own or hers he could not tell.

All he knew was right now, if she turned up, he'd have to turn her away. He couldn't face Alex Eames right now but he honestly didn't expect her to turn up at his door with an apology. It wasn't exactly something she'd be prone to do easily, he knew her well enough to know her pride would stand in the way. He considered calling her up, saying sorry first but he didn't feel like he should. Why should he apologise when he is the one losing his mother to cancer? Why should he explain to her what he was feeling? It's not like he owed that to anyone, not even his best friend.

He thought that he and Alex had one of those unbreakable partnerships; one that could be tested, stretched, wrung and bent over backwards without snapping but it seemed he'd been wrong. He always thought that if anybody could understand it would be her, he was wrong.

Bobby paced the floor, trying to work out the physical kinks that come with emotional pins and needles. But as he did, he found that just increased the thoughts that shot through his mind; maybe she wasn't over her kidnapping, maybe he'd expected too much from her. After all she was just a human being with her own feelings and her own problems but he couldn't quite bring himself to believe that Alex was that self-centred so now he was finding himself more confused by her actions.

The way she'd been angry, the way she'd tried to bottle it up during the interrogation. The way they had tried to worked together, finding themselves in a counterpoint situation where she was going one way and he was going another; they reached their goal but they didn't get there together.

It was the knocking on the door that snapped Bobby out of his thoughts. He looked at the door suspiciously; had she really turned up?

As he stepped towards the door, taking two big strides, he tried to figure out what he would say, what she would say and what he'd say to her in response but he couldn't put it in some kind of sequence or order in time for the proverbial truck to hit him in the face. That truck was actually the scrunched up fist that made contact with his face merely a seconds after the door was opened. That scrunched up fist belonged to Mike Logan; using his only good arm to take the only swing he was going to get before Bobby could recover and easily take on a man who was still recovering from severe injuries.

The door was slammed shut behind Mike as he entered the apartment. Bobby still scrambling on the floor, slightly dazed and trying to recover. Clutching his lip and cheek as he stood up, looking at his intruder with a puzzled yet pained expression on his face, "What the _hell _are you doing, Logan?"

Mike shot him an angry look but he kept his voice cool and calm, "Trying to knock some sense into you." Mike looked at Bobby, curious yet sarcastic, "Did it work?"

Bobby stood up and rubbed his chin, ignoring the comment and question completely, "What makes you think you can just waltz in here and start a fight?"

He shrugged in response and then angrily pointed his index finger at Bobby, "What the _hell _gives you the right to treat her that way?!"

"Her?"

"Don't give me that bullshit! You know who I'm talkin' about."

Bobby nodded, he did and he realised that perhaps he should have expected this from Mike, but he hadn't even considered it.

Mike growled, "Answer the damn question!"

Bobby rubbed his cheek and then brushed his hair back, needlessly. "Logan, we had an argument between partners. This doesn't involve you." Bobby didn't want to talk to Mike about it, he didn't want to explain anything to him, and why should he?

"Like hell it does." Mike argued, "She's talking about quitting and I swear to you that it_ is _your fault and it _does_ involve me."

Stumped into silence for a moment, Bobby felt like a fish with the gaping mouth. "S-she's quitting?" He stammered, finally after spending a moment with the dumbfounded expression on his face.

Mike stepped toward him, his finger just inches away from jabbing Bobby in the chest. When Mike spoke, his voice was low and it had the air of danger to it, "I don't care what's wrong with you, but as far as I'm concerned you crossed the line." Mike stepped away from him, trying his hardest to control his anger. He walked towards the door before stopping and turning back, "I swear, if she ends up back with a shrink, it'll be on your head!"

Bobby's hands were twitching as he tried to control his own anger and emotions. His fingers rubbing his knuckles in frustration as he slowly began to pace the room again, only to bring a sigh from Mike who didn't like the way Bobby did that. Mike was about to walk out of the apartment when Bobby turned to him, angrily, "This has got nothing to do you with you! She's got no reason to quit and I-I don't have to explain anything to you-"

Mike raised his eyebrows and interrupted, "This about your mother?"

It caused Bobby to pause, blink and stare at him before plunging towards him with his own fist.

----------------------

TBC

Ooops... cliffhanger. What do you think so far?


	5. Chapter 5

Oooh, I know this is late but I've had an incredibly tough week. But, thankfully, I've managed to find the time to write this one. I want to thank you so much for your reviews, they motivate me to continue and to find the time to sit down and write. It's greatly appreciated. **  
**

**Out of Sync**

Hell hath no fury like Alex Eames; especially when she couldn't decide which man she was more angry with, Mike Logan or Bobby Goren. Her face was unreadable, almost like stone as she waited for the nurse to finish dressing the wounds on Mike's face.

Mike had the look of a man who was guilty, a man who knew what was coming and knew of no way to stop it from happening. The nurse smiled at them both, trying without success to break through the tense atmosphere that clouded the room. She had no choice but to make a quick and timely exit, not wanting to get involved. The instant the young nurse had abandoned them; Alex opened her mouth, "What the hell did you think you were doing?" Her fury coming out in words, "What were you hoping to accomplish by starting a fist fight with my partner-" Mike opened his mouth to speak and she lifted her hand up, "-No, I know you started it, there is no way in hell Bobby threw the first punch."

Mike looked at her, his lips tight together as he tried to control his anger, "I went there to talk to him-"

"-Talk?" Alex interrupted, "I didn't realise a punch was a word?"

Mike winced at the anger resonating in her voice like her own, painful and well-worded punch, "It didn't go to plan."

She snorted, "I'll say."

Mike stood up off the bed and tried to gain a more confident posture, "Look, seriously, I went there to talk because you were too upset to make any sense to me, and I was pissed off!" Alex didn't look impressed with his explanation at all, "But when I got there I was too pissed to speak... at first." Mike looked at her, hoping he was conveying honesty, "I swear, it was over until..." his sentence trailed off and her eyebrows raised in anticipation." I said something stupid."

"Stupid?" Alex asked, unsure of whether this was a revelation or an everyday occurrence.

Mike could see what she was thinking and he didn't appreciate it. "Hey, I was trying to help!"

"How is that helping?" Alex asked, angrily and annoyed. "What did you think you could do? 'Cause you haven't helped, you've just made it worse!"

"Worse?" Mike asked, his own voice raising, "How have I done that?"

An incredulous look spread across Alex's face. "You're unbelievable." She muttered.

"Look, you were the one who was upset." Mike started.

Alex then quickly interrupted, "So it's my fault you went over there to sucker punch him?" There was a knock on the door, Mike and Alex turned to the door with anger, frustration and annoyance written on their faces at being interrupted during the heated argument.

"Uh..." Bobby stood at the door, unsure of whether to enter the room or not. He only had a busted lip and had not needed any real treatment. "Eames?"

Alex's anger quickly switched from Mike to Bobby, "And you, what ever possessed you to fight someone who'd only just been released from hospital with severe injuries?" Bobby blinked; slightly surprised by her outburst, the last time he'd seen his partner was when he'd walked out of the squad room declaring how he was not concerned about losing his job. Bobby fidgeted his feet along the floor and looked at them both. "Well?"

"E-Eames," Bobby stuttered, "-I..." He lost the words he was looking for before he'd even located them. He saw the hurt in her eyes, similar to the way she looked outside that elevator door. Frustration caused him to rub the back of his neck; a pulsating urge to pace the room filled his veins but as he looked at her expression, almost physically willing him to give her a reason he realised he didn't have one nor did he want to give her one. He was annoyed that she'd chosen to attack him when he'd entered the room.

Alex saw his decision written on his face and she shook her head in a stiff manner; angry with him. She turned to look at Mike, who was staring at Bobby in disbelief. She took a deep, sharp breath and looked at him, "You coming?"

Mike looked at her and nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Alex turned back to Bobby, taking two steps towards the door and ultimately away from her partner, "Call me when you change your mind about answering me." Her voice shook slightly as she fought her emotion, tired from lack of sleep and hurt from his distance. Despite that she offered him the proverbial olive branch because deep down she knew he had his own problems.

------------------

Silence speaks volumes and as far as Mike was concerned the silent treatment was the worst thing, she could be speaking to him right now. Her response wasn't the typical anger routine displayed by females, which was slamming items down or making everything seem as if it was heavier than it really was; she was being normal, yet withdrawn and quiet, Mike knew he was officially in the doghouse with no idea of how to get out of it.

Sat at the very end of the sofa, legs curled up beneath her backside, flipping through the pages of some magazine her sister would bring round for her to read; the ones she usually just threw in the bin. Mike walked into living room, holding his sore arm and trying not to make it look like he was in any pain; embarrassed at the fool he'd made of himself but he'd been sincere in trying to help her.

"Look, I know I'm an ass." Mike started but she didn't even take her eyes off the page she was reading. With a sigh, he sat down on the sofa next to her; Alex finally tore her eyes from the words and looked at him with a quizzical look on her face. "Stop doing this. The silence is killing me. Let's argue about it for God's sake."

"You want to argue?" She asked, but Mike could see the trap that question presented.

"Not what I meant and you know it."

Alex sighed and closed the magazine, she tossed it across the room and successfully landed it on the coffee table. "Fine." She folded her arms across her chest; guarding herself emotionally rather than physically. "Let's argue."

Mike couldn't help but smirk at the way she said that, as if it was something they did everyday; he was grateful they didn't usually argue. "I'm sorry."

She looked at him with a frown, "I thought you wanted to argue."

In turn, Mike frowned, "I expected an argument to grow from the word sorry."

Alex sighed and twisted in the seat so she was facing him completely, "I don't feel like arguing, Mike. I really don't. I should have known you'd go and do something stupid." Mike's eyes rolled, "What? You can't seriously think that wasn't stupid?"

He snorted, "Well... no, it was stupid but it's not like I planned it."

Her eyebrows reached her hairline, a disbelieving look on her face. "No?" He shook his head, "You didn't plan to go to see him?"

Mike couldn't help but feel like this was an interrogation. "You already know the answer to that!" He turned away from her and looked around the room, at anything but her face.

Alex pulled an annoyed face, "You were the one that wanted to _argue._"

"I thought you didn't." Mike retorted, looking back at her with a questioning look on his face. Almost nose-to-nose they watched each other. In a stand-off, waiting for the next player to make the move that would cause a checkmate. The wait for the next move seemed to last forever; time stalled as they sat there, knee-to-knee, without even blinking throughout the entire staring contest. It was Mike who relented and looked away from her, down to his hands before looking back up at her with regret written on his face. "I don't want you to quit your job."

Alex's face softened, "I'm not."

"No?"

She shook her head, "No." Sighing, she continued, "I just wish I knew how to fix..." Her sentence trailed off and she started a new one, "I wish I knew how to help Bobby." Mike didn't really have the answer to that, he didn't really no how to help somebody else deal with losing their mother. "I can't imagine losing my mother, and I-I just... I feel so awful for being upset with him and now I don't even know how to sort it out."

Mike looked at her solemnly, "I don't know what to say."

She shook her head, "You don't have to say anything."

He snaked his arms around her and pulled her towards him, not caring about the sore spots or the bruises that still remained on his body. She hesitated at first, unsure of whether she wanted comfort from him and unsure of whether she was still mad at him or not but she eventually allowed him to pull her in and she buried her face in his chest.

-----------------------

Captain Ross looked at the dishevelled man before him; Bobby Goren looked at the well-dressed yet frustrated Captain standing before him.

"I can't condone your behaviour in the squad room yesterday." Ross told him, in a business-like manner.

"Captain-" Bobby started but Ross held up his hand to say he was not finished.

"I realise that you're going through a difficult time right now, what with your mother and the recent kidnapping of your partner." Ross walked around his desk, "But that's no excuse for the unprofessional behaviour you've been showing this past weekend".

Bobby nodded, not really agreeing with him but he didn't want to make this situation worse.

"I don't want to suspend you for that behaviour but I am telling you to take a few days leave, get your head sorted out and come back when you're ready."

It took every effort for Bobby not to argue with his Captain on that but he recognised the relief he was being given and he did want to spend as much time as he could with his mother.

-------------------

TBC Let me know what you think of this chapter. There will be more Bobby in the next one, for those that want that.


	6. Chapter 6

**Another chapter, a smaller one, but I'm impressed that it's been added so quickly. I hope you enjoy this one; it has a bit more Bobby in than usual for me. **

**Podie1 **- Thank you, as always, for your wonderful reviews. I'm thankful that they are worth the wait for you.

**ETA: You would have recieved this days ago, however FFnet was not working correctly and I have been unable to add this chapter. As a matter of fact, I've had to kind of cheat a little to get this chapter loaded, oh say, three days later. LOL. But here it finally is... I hope. **

**Out of Sync**

**Bobby Goren wanted the relief, he wanted the opportunity he was being presented with. The frustration he'd been suffocating in had been due to his work; the case stopping him from being with his mother in her time of need. His time of need. But here he was, standing in his apartment and unable to go the hospital because his mother didn't want to see him.**

**Her own frustration and anger at her weakness had caused her to throw him out of the room; Bobby had called the doctor and she'd been sedated. He hated to see his mother like that, on the edge of sanity and not even wanting to pull herself back into reality. Bobby felt, at times, that he was standing on the edge of insanity himself, that fine line between the two that is actually more commonplace than most think. Afraid of the event that would knock him over into the other side, would the death of his mother be the event? He had to admit to himself, he'd considered it. What intelligent man wouldn't make the connection that losing a mother, and only family, could be a catastrophic event?**

**The books situated neatly on his bookcase didn't even catch a glimmer of interest ****with him tonight; not caring to read texts and words, form ideas or come to conclusions****. His heart and soul wasn't in it. He wanted to be with his mother, who was now probably strapped to her bed and unconscious to the world. **

**He glanced at his cell phone, which had been carelessly placed on the side table, he thought of calling his partner and seeing if he could mend the broken pieces of his partnership and friendship; one of the most important friends of his life and she couldn't even see he was falling apart. He turned away from the phone, and as he scratched his head he laughed ****bitterly at the way everything seemed to be changing around him; and it was**** out of his control. **

**He rubbed his face as his eyes, again, rested on his cell. What if she was arguing with Mike Logan right now? Had that been his fault? **

**Bobby's mind screamed out the word 'No', he hadn't been able to believe that Logan would be foolish enough to come over to his apartment to start a fight, had he not been there himself he would have denied it were possible. He could, perhaps, somewhere in his mind understand why Logan did what he did, he was trying to help her, what Bobby couldn't understand was the reason why Logan felt he needed to interfere, it had nothing to do with him as far as Bobby was concerned. **

**With a sigh, he covered his face with his hands and tried to replay the events of the past few days; trying to see if he could find the clues he may have missed before. All he could come up with was the moment he'd told her to back off but she was tougher than most people he knew, why would that bother her? She was the strongest person, emotionally, that he'd ever worked with and Bobby knew there had to be something else going on for that to upset her but he couldn't figure out what that was. **

**The phone ringing had knocked him out of his thoughts like a slap in the face; he'd answered it quickly, only to discover it was one of his mother's doctors. **

**------------------**

**"You did what?"**

**Despite the calm exterior and the level voice she was using, Alex Eames was practically shaking in anger throughout her insides. She couldn't believe her ears. **

**Captain Ross was stood behind his desk and giving Alex an impatient look. "I _didn't _suspend him, Detective, I just gave him the time off to think." **

**Alex was too stunned for words. She knew her partner had crossed the professional line, but she had hoped that Captain Ross would show some understanding for him; that inner voice of hers was already mocking her for expecting something off someone else that she couldn't even give. "How much time?" **

**"We eventually agreed on two weeks." **

**Her brow reached her hairline before Ross had completed his sentence, "Two weeks?" Her voice level raised an octave simply from the shock. Alex was incredulous that Bobby had agreed to take two weeks off. **

**Ross raised his hand to silence any arguing she may do, "You'll be on desk duty for the time being-" Alex didn't like the sound of where this was going, "-I know Logan is coming back this week, despite his _new _injuries." Alex winced at the undertone of Ross' voice. "I'm sure there will be plenty of work for you to do, detective." There was a finality to his voice that she couldn't mistake as the end of the conversation. Alex nodded, numbly and sincerely hoped her partner was alright. **

**Throughout the working day she'd spent most her time tucked into her desk, writing up interview notes for other detectives, writing up her own case reports and writing up her partners reports for him as well. All the while, she kept checking her cell to see if he'd called her or even sent her a message to let her know he was alright. Part of her chastising herself for not calling him, and the other part thinking that he should call her because there was absolutely no way in hell this was all her fault. She had tried to her best to help him, and he'd pushed her away too many times for her to be able to keep her patience; it was growing thin and she refused to be the one who ****apologised**** for something she had not done wrong. **

**When she got home she'd found Mike was in a quiet mood, being ****uncharacteristically introspective and that worried her somewhat; afraid of what he could be thinking of. She tried to tell herself she wasn't angry at him anymore, but she was. But she recognised ****that her anger was mostly aimed toward her partner rather than Mike. **

**--------------------**

**The seat was uncomfortable. **

**The seat was always uncomfortable. Whether that was a physical reality or a ****representation**** of his inner feelings when it was quiet, and she was asleep leaving him alone with his thoughts and turmoil. He could almost hear the stress he was under, the sound of somebody using a grating device on his nerves, shredding each and every single one of them. He felt fatigued yet energetic, and not in the lively sense. He wanted to punch something, anything; take his frustration out on something but he couldn't. **

**That would wake her up. **

**He didn't want to do that. He could almost believe she was peaceful when she was sleeping. As if none of the demons that threatened her whilst she was awake was actually true. But that was all an unnecessary illusion that just lent itself to be shattered. **

**He wanted to wake her up. Tell her how much he loves her, how much he appreciates the effort she'd put in as a mother when he'd been a young boy. How much he doesn't hold her illness against her, no matter what she believes. That, despite her belief in Frank, that it's all lies that she tells herself, that he's not the good son, Bobby is the good son. But he could never shatter that for her, he could never let her know the truth because that hurts, it really does. **

**She deserves to know the truth but does she deserve to die in pain from it? Heartbroken at what Frank really did and where he really was? He doubted that very much. **

**No, Frank was the good son and Bobby was the one who walked behind him. **

**-------------------------**

**TBC **


	7. Chapter 7

Meh, writers block, it's so overrated--do not allow it to grab you--it keeps you. Thank you so much to Brentz for the beta of this, working out kinks and such.

**Out of Sync**

His two weeks of leave soon disappeared; leaving little time for him to even realise he was meant to be at work tomorrow. He'd grown accustomed to the absence of work and the daily routine he'd been so fond of before. So much so that he was beginning to appreciate that his Captain had given him the opportunity in the first place. Realising that this had in fact been a good thing for him, appreciating the time he'd been able to spend with his ailing mother. The only negativity he'd really stepped on was his partnership. He'd seen Alex twice since she'd discovered his two-week leave and neither situation had been comfortable. Both of them were unwilling to discuss issues and the problems that faced them, even opting for small talk instead. Bobby hoped that the bridge that existed between them had not been burned down completely, if so he feared that he would lose his partner. He was hurt that she wasn't willing to apologise; he knew that Mike wouldn't exactly apologize to him either, but he'd expected something more from his partner.

The first time he'd seen Alex during his leave, he'd seen her alone, and when he'd asked about Mike her responses had been minimal. Bobby had watched her body language carefully and he had to admit to himself he felt somewhat guilty for creating the new obvious distance between Alex and Mike. He didn't notice any distance the second time he'd seen her and he hoped that things had improved.

He walked into the squad room, almost hesitantly, his mind racing a mile a minute as he looked towards the two conjoining desks belonging to himself and his partner. He felt a strange mix of relief and anxiety. Where was she? He stepped towards his desk in merely a few strides; he was then stopped dead in his tracks to find a Starbucks foam cup of coffee situated in the centre of his desk. He gave the cup an intense stare and then pulled back his chair, landing in the seat with a sudden drop. Bobby just continued to look on the coffee, and it was almost as if he was trying to decipher the subliminal message behind it.

"Do you plan on actually drinking the coffee or thinking it to death?"

His partner's amused yet distant voice pulled him out of his reverie. "Eames?" He blinked, and looked at her. He was expecting to see anger, irritation and even irrational resentment but instead he just saw acceptance.

"Look-" She dropped into her own seat, "-don't get all soppy on me or anything but I just wanted to apologise. It's none of my business and I am here for you."

Bobby smiled, slightly cautious but also relieved. He realised what she was offering him; she was offering him peace. Maybe it was also a way of sweeping everything under the rug, maybe this would all come back to bite them later on somewhere else down the line but this peace offering seemed like the best solution. "Thank you." He nodded and gave her a small smile of gratitude; he wasn't ready to talk about his mother or his own personal problems, and it seemed she was willing to wait.

-------------

Alex felt herself sigh inwardly as she watched her partner knuckle down into some paperwork that had been gathering dust on his desk for the past two weeks. She desperately wanted to help him through this difficult time, and her inner voice was screaming at her that she hadn't been given an apology yet, that he hadn't truly earned her support but she shut that inner voice up by taking a big gulp of her own coffee.

She also knew that Mike would disagree with her actions but this wasn't his choice; it was hers and she didn't want Bobby to suffer, his mother was dying and that had to count for something. It was at that moment that Mike caught her eye from his position in the Video Investigation room, and there was a look of disappointment behind them. She just shrugged her face and buried herself in her own work.

------------

"Did you really let him off the hook?"

Mike's incredulous tone of voice boomed through the living room as he and Alex sat on the sofa; not next to each other but not far either. Alex shot him an unamused look. "I didn't let him off _any _hook." She replied, just as strong as he had.

"No?" He asked, "Looks like it to me."

"This isn't your problem, Mike." Alex snapped without thought and Mike was visibly taken back by it but he recovered quickly.

He simply shrugged, "Fair enough." He then stood up and walked out of the room, towards the bedroom. Her angry self just assumed that he was going there to sulk but a part of her knew that he was just looking out for her. But to her, that was part of the problem, she didn't need him to. She didn't want to argue with Mike, she was still shaken from when he'd been held hostage with his partner and she knew he was, although he would never admit it.

With a sigh, she stood up and followed him into the bedroom to find him just reading some magazine that she never cared for. "Mike?"

He didn't look at her but he did answer, "What?"

She held back the annoyed sigh that threatened to escape and she stepped further into the room, knowing full well the look on her face was not necessarily a kind one.

When nothing came out of her mouth, he looked up at her and decided that he'd open his own, "Look, I don't know what you want me to say. You've obviously got it all figured out so-" he shrugged.

This time she did sigh, "Why are you so upset over it?"

He shot her a look that said it should be obvious but Alex still had a frown on her face, "I think you know why."

"That fight?" Alex asked, genuinely confused. "Because if so, Mike, then you need to grow up."

"I'm not the one who had the hissy fit in the middle of the squad room." Mike quickly argued back.

Alex felt her eyes roll but she couldn't exactly argue with him over that, "He's mother is dying." Alex stated, softly. "I know I'd probably need to vent too."

Mike shot her a look, "In front of everybody?"

Alex didn't reply.

"You'd take it out on your partner?"

"I don't know; my mother isn't dying." Alex countered, knowing full well she couldn't predict events for the future. "Would you?"

"Get upset over my mother dying?" Mike asked, sarcasm dripping all over his words like grease. "Hell, no. I raised a drink to her." Alex could tell from his words, and from he'd told her in the past, that that drink was not in honour of her life but in celebration of her death.

A moment of silence passed as they just looked at each other. Alex didn't want to bring up the tense and pain memories of his past, or his mother, and Mike almost seemed to be daring to her to use it against him. "Bobby is different." Was all Alex could finally bring herself to say, "He's my partner and I should support him."

Mike's face still looked hard but he did nod his head slightly, "Fine. That's your choice, but this will all come back and snap you in the ass."

Alex sat down on the foot of the bed as she thought about that for a moment, "Probably." She wasn't sure if she was ready for her partnership with Bobby to dismantle completely; she didn't think she could handle that after everything else that happened over the past few months. To her, the greatest solution was to keep moving forward and let it go before they could no longer work together.

"And for the record-" Mike's voice caused her to look back at him, "-I don't want it to snap you in the ass either." He gave her his sincerest look, "I hope you don't expect me to be all buddy with him?"

With a blank look she used his words, "That's your choice."

Again, the room fell silent and they both found themselves immersed in thoughts that didn't have order to them. They remained silent for a few moments before Mike spoke quietly, "Do you know what tomorrow is?"

She frowned, and slowly turned her head back to him, "No... what?"

He gave her a quizzical look. "You don't?" Mike seemed incredulous that she didn't know what the significance of tomorrow was.

"No." Alex shook her head, "Why? Should I?"

Mike hesitated, as if he was deciding whether or not he should tell her. "It's our anniversary."

Alex blinked. "What?" Her frown deepened and her brow burrowed as she regarded him with confusion. "It's ...? What anniversary?"

Mike snorted, "Of our first date. I only remembered because it was around the time of that Garrett case."

Alex seemed to be lost in memory as she tried to recall the actual date, and to see if he was telling the truth or if he was trying to get himself into her good books. "Uh..." She looked at him and gave him a small sheepish smile. "I guess I forgot."

He couldn't help but roll his eyes and allow that sarcastic snort to escape, "If I'd forgotten, you know damn well you'd have remembered so then I'd have to grovel about how I didn't mean to."

A smirk finally found it's way onto her face. "The beauty about that is, as a woman I don't have to grovel about that." Mike rolled his eyes.

He then looked at her with a grave expression on his face. "Are we alright? Or am I sleeping on the couch?"

She studed him for a moment and then she checked her watch. "You have a couple of hours to work on it." She looked up at him to see he was being deadly serious and she was surprised but she just smiled at him before walking out of the room to leave Mike alone, with a frown on his face. _What kind of answer is that? _

-------------

TBC

There will be one more chapter of this story and then I'll move on, simply because this writers block of mine is just not helping me at all. But I've not quite reached the end of this series, or at least, i've not reached where it was meant to end... so...more soon. XD


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